STEREOLAB: Switched On (LTNF LIVE 4 WERB RADIO)

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STEREOLAB: Switched On (LTNF LIVE 4 WERB RADIO)

Stereolab sets a date: 10-10-22 at Brooklyn Steel in NY. PJ does a show on Stereolab.

Formed in 1990 by analog gear and record enthusiast Tim Gane and his then partner, French singer Lætitia Sadier, the band took its name from Vanguard Stereolab, a subsidiary of Vanguard Records that specialized in hi-fi effects. Their music was highly cerebral and studious, with lyrics that referenced surreal imagery, Situationist philosophy, and leftist politics, sung in both English and French. As an expression of his love for record collecting, Gane also co-founded a boutique label, Duophonic, with the band’s manager, Martin Pike, which has released limited edition singles and EPs by Stereolab and like-minded peers.

STEREOLAB: Switched On (LTNF LIVE)

About Stereolab

Helmed for their duration by English guitarist and songwriter Tim Gane and nextFrench vocalist and lyricist Laetitia Sadier, Stereolab formed in 1990 out of the ashes of McCarthy, the agit-pop group Gane had been in for the second half of the ‘80s. Sadier had met Gane at a McCarthy gig in Paris, and she’d been a member of the group in its final days. When they decided to start making music together again, Stereolab was born: a multi-limbed musical collective unafraid of the joys of pop melody but equally comfortable with wild experimentation.

Gane and Sadier also started their own record label, Duophonic, with their manager Martin Pike. While the label ended up releasing other groups (Tortoise, Labradford, Broadcast, Pram, The High Llamas, Huggy Bear, and the pre-Daft Punk Darlin’ all appeared on the label at some point), it is best known for releasing almost all the Stereolab albums and singles (on the UHF Disks imprint) while pumping out limited 7” and 10” singles (on the Super 45s imprint).

Some have claimed Stereolab were detached, studious, overly intellectual. Listening to their music, though, and with the benefit of hindsight, nothing feels further from the truth: this music is alive, rich with melody, harmony and texture, gesturing towards genres and other artists in all their wild multiplicity. They may have been on indefinite hiatus since 2009, but these records will have a long, strong afterlife.

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